Clayton,
It was not about evacuating the state of California. The issue was assuring
that the public would continue to use California's agriculture products. If
nothing had been done, then a large segment of the population would have
stopped using things like milk, fruit, vegetables, etc. Public health had
to stand up and state the truth. Otherwise things would have gotten very
ugly. I was asked by the EPA to provide risks (e.g., fatal cancers) from
breathing air, etc. I flat told them no for reasons previously stated. I
know this goes against what you believe about human nature. The courage
part was in not following the conventional path. "Its safe to drink the
water. However, there is a slight risk of cancer, because all radiation
above background incurs some risk... blah, blah.... " This type of statement
would absolutely have guaranteed the same kind of problem as occurred with
Alar on apples and other nonsense. There are times when individuals in
government do the right thing. There are also times when government
officials do the wrong thing.
Victor
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayton J Bradt [mailto:CJB01 at health.state.ny.us]
Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 11:16 AM
To: victor.anderson at frontier.com
Cc: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Subject: Improper Application of ALARA following stabilization of Fukushima
Nuclear Reactors
Victor Anderson wrote:
"Yes, public health officials made a statement and stuck to it. They did
take personal responsibility for what was said. I was one of them. The
same general plan will work in Japan. It just takes courage."
Come-on, Victor! You don't really think that deciding not to evacuate the
State of California took courage, do you?
Clayton